In June 2023, McDonald’s became the focus of a TikTok trend. It happened when it released a purple-tinted milkshake. This was released as part of a nostalgia-driven campaign celebrating “Grimace.” It is one of the fast food giant’s figures used in ads and children’s birthday celebrations. Grimace Shake discontinued 2024?
The “Grimace Birthday Shake” was available as an addition to the “Grimace Birthday Meal.” It came with a medium French fry, a Big Mac or 10-piece Chicken McNuggets option, and the famous special purple shake.
It seemed like McDonald’s bid goodbye to the birthday meal and shake in a tweet that Grimace reportedly sent out. The tweet stated, “You made me feel so special to say goodbye, grimace now.” People around the country turned to their nearest McDonald’s to experience the shake. But some on social media gave a pretty grim picture of the shake’s alleged effects. Will the Grimace Shake return in 2024? In this article, we will discuss it more.
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What is a Grimace shake?
A purple milkshake with a berry taste is called the Grimace Shake. This is a blend of vanilla soft serve and berry flavors. The shake was launched to mark Grimace’s 52nd birthday. Grimace is the McDonald’s character who enjoys purple milkshakes.
The manufacturer of the product was silent about the flavor. Many people claimed to taste different flavors, such as fruity pebbles or bubblegum. The shake was made available alone as well as as part of the Grimace Birthday Meal. As said, the meal includes a shake, medium fries, and a Big Mac or ten pieces of Chicken McNuggets.
The Grimace Shake was originally available at McDonald’s spots in the United States from June 12 to July 9, 2023. In May 2024, the shake was again launched in Canada for a second, limited run.
Along with the #GrimaceShake trend, the shake became more and more popular on TikTok and YouTube.
What exactly is the Grimace Shake trend?
Grimace is McDonald’s large purple mascot. It made customers turn green. In the “Grimace Shake” trend, TikTok users developed mini-horror movies. They criticized the impacts of consuming McDonald’s new milkshake.
Several examples on social networks put customers in a frightening situation after testing out this limited-time menu stuff. The creators shown in the movie appeared to be unconscious or dead. They pretend to be dead, with the purple liquid flowing out of their mouths soon after they take a sip of the purple shake.
While the beginnings of each version are similar, the horrible sequences at the end vary. Some depict the person passing out in various locations. It includes a playground, a tree, or a car hood. The trend had begun to spread online. The videos that included the hashtag #grimaceshake earned millions of views.
McDonald’s followed the trend, even though it wasn’t their plan when they launched the shake. On June 27, 2023, the fast food company posted a close-up of the fuzzy mascot, which is actually a huge taste bud, on Instagram. According to the post, “Mee is pretending that I don’t see the grimace shake trend.”
Followers continued the joke in the post’s comments section. “Please, please, let go of my family,” a fan asked. Another said, “I hear Grimace has exposure to nuclear warheads. Is this true?” McDonald’s did not make any additional comments to customers.
Is the Grimace Shake discontinued?
Guillaume Huin is a social media director for brand content and engagement at McDonald’s USA. In July 2023, he posted on Twitter and LinkedIn about the company’s response to the Grimace Shake videos.
“If you believe we will never admit the trend, I can’t blame you. I believed the same thing at first. To be frank, I think my initial text to the team and agencies was, “Not clear; we should jump in.” Huin noted, “It took us some time to figure out what was happening.” “The initiative was already highly successful, both from a social and financial perspective. So why would we put ourselves at ‘risk’ to jump in?”
However, after much observation and reading, McDonald’s was able to recognize the trend at some point. It was “brilliant creativity, unfiltered fun, and top illogical Gen Z humor,” according to Huin.
Following this insight, the business had to decide how to handle the Grimace Shake videos. Huin explained that they didn’t prefer to disregard it totally. But “promoting it felt self-serving,” so the brief remark in the June 27 tweet was the ideal halfway ground.
Finally, the Grimace Shake was discontinued in the United States on July 9, 2023. The company claimed that the “Grimace’s Birthday Meal” promotion expired.
McDonald’s just introduced a brand-new Cookies & Creme Pie in a few markets. The business thought that it might help make up for the loss of Grimace and the mascot’s well-known shake. The small treat consists of a stark black chocolate cookie crumb crust stuffed with vanilla creme and chocolate sandwich cookies.
Conclusion
McDonald’s revealed on May 13, 2024, that the Grimace Shake will be available for the second consecutive summer. “The rumors are true,” reads the message. If you feel, “Um, hello, you misspelled rumors,” you’ll know what’s going on. The purple potable is back, but only north of the Canadian border this time, the post claims.
Thus, the Grimace Shake is returning to Canada this time around. “After many sightings, McDonald’s Canada confirmed that Grimace had officially arrived in Canada,” according to the press statement. Rumors have been circulating on the internet for several weeks, ever since Grimace was observed at a Vancouver Canucks hockey game.
Grimace Shakes will be available in Canada at selected locations for a specific period only. Last summer, the shake was only available in the United States. So McDonald’s most likely decided it was time to spread the Grimace love.
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